Dear me, far away in time..

A note to 13 year old self..

Dear me, far away in time

So much to convey,

Try make you believe

Almost a decade away, 

You stand at a peak!

I wish I can make it all fine

But I wouldn't change a thing

I turned just fine , you see.

Many twists threw you in a bind

I know what you face

Flown across the lands and oceans

People, place, tongue: all new

Challenges to face everyday

I know how much you hate school

Though studying is never a problem for you

Praying for the time to end

Lonely, angry and scared in cold land

But our family is with you holding your hand.

You forgot to smile and laugh, put on a mask

That shell stayed on, rather a long while

You wish to fit in with some; 

Left alone by those others

Make a break, be the best.. 

Just like the rest; this too will pass

Hate to break it to you but you will fall

Many a time.. still.. you survive, like you always do

You will lose chances, doors close.. make you scream

Fear will plague your mind, doubt your worth

Yes.. you succumb, lose and break

But believe: It is ok to fall!! Have hope!

Do not measure your worth by how tall the others are..

You will build a hunger, new dream to be

Friends, foes, love and betrayal too

Will be better, almost the best!

Will discover, invent! 

Restore the courage to fly again. 

As you see my dear, we turned out just fine

Far away in time, 

you are at the turning point of our life!

Author's Note

Not an amazing work. That is a time, a very precious one. It's a really hard challenge. I may work on it again.
We moved to England, when I was 13, for a year. It changed how I want to be.. I became more passionate and also scared. It was a turning point.

Reviews

[MusicManiac]

Your poem (or actually, your letter) is so very encouraging! Thank you for taking the challenge!

I can only imagine what it must have been like to move to a different country at the age of thirteen. Most typical thirteen-year-olds like to think they have the whole world figured out, but to have that taken away due to moving could be really frightening.

But yet your letter is so optimistic and honestly, I can feel your pride from where you currently are in life through it--it makes me smile :) I really love your line "you will build a hunger, new dream to be"--because, in my opinion, desiring something to the extent of a hunger is the greatest drive in life there could be. It's one of the few things we need to keep us going at our most vulnerable times.

Thank you so much for sharing this--I'm glad I got to read it!

[Sindu]

Thank you so much! Great to know you liked it. Honestly, I have no idea about anything before that time.. I lived in my own reserved shell.. I got to know the life outside, how important it Is to fight..
I was a little stunned when I looked at your challenge..haha but you put up one heck of a challenge though this may be on the heavy side. In a way, this is also a challenge in ressuring myself cos I still do not believe it.. Hope my hunger stays till then :) thanks again MusicManiac

[Jamestown]

This is so creative and cute! I really like the idea of a future letter to self,
I'm inspired, I am going to ask my kids to participate in this and I will most certainly
tell them where I came up with the idea and show them
this piece of work, thanks for sharing this fantastic piece and idea,
and God bless you!!!

[Sindu]

Thank you so much james! Really kind of you. Glad you liked it so much. This was in reply to MusicManiac's challenge in the poetry challenge group.
One of the hardest things for me write cos I needed to come to terms and accept some past realities.

[Jamestown]

You are welcome, thanks for the great idea! There is a really cool song called
dear younger me that came to mind when reading this, very beautiful and powerful
Song and message! Thanks again and b-blessed!

[Sindu]

I will make sure to check that :)

[David Lewis Paget]

I can relate to this, Sindu, for I too was taken from my native land, England, at the age of 13, and taken to Australia. Even though the language was (basically) the same, there were so many changes, and things to readjust my thinking to. In one fell swoop I had lost all my childhood friends, my school, which I loved, and my extended family. It was like beginning again on a new planet. I hated Australia for the first twelve years. Now, in hindsight, I see what a good move it was, but it takes a long time.

[Sindu]

Yes, leaving the life behind is hard and lost touch with almost all of those friends I knew since childood. This move happened only for a year, unlike what was planned and I returned to India. But everything was different, in my perspective at least. Before that I had no ideas on life, just a daydreamer but after that I wanted to make a position for myslef and people to remember me by. In a way, I was thankful too for the move.
Twelve years.. that's a long time to settle in but you did great, right?

[David Lewis Paget]

I've been here 56 years now, and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I did go back for a trip to England in 1990, and found it cold, dark, and dismal. The houses were cramped and small, the roads narrow, and I couldn't wait to get back 'home'.

[Sindu]

yep I remember houses small and cramped... cold, dark and dismal.. even after 10 years from the time of your visit.

[KWP]

this is great - when we are young we have so many wishes to be different - its funny I meet people from my school days and they say 'you were always more real than everyone else' I actually viewed myself as painstakingly shy (although I always stood up for what I believed in) it was a good lesson for me, to know that I am my own harshest critic, to know that not everybody thought about me as much as I thought they did, to learn that staying true to myself could be the best gift I could ever give.

i think this work is brilliant - shows you are full of strength and character ... well done chickface xx

[Sindu]

That's a best lesson one can learn from you as well.. I am always reserved and shy.. I am starting to ( almost) stand up for what I believein- painstakingly modest and harsh with myself but it keeps me on my toes I guess. This piece helped me look at all that happened without a cynical approach as always.. still in the process though.
Thanks a lot for that amazing review and your view.. loved reading them :)

[KWP]

pleasure

[Pushkar Prabhat]

i didn't know that!!!
Foreign return...............
Loved the poem..........
delicately described and passionately worded!!!
Amazing work!!!
:) :)

[Sindu]

Thanks yaar pushkar! I usually do not share that piece of info :)

[Mayank]

I think its a very good self portrait...

[Sindu]

Thanks Mayank :)

[Lyn Anderson]

What a tough time to move, across town is bad enough, but to another country, wow. Kudos to you on making it through.

[Sindu]

Yup, I somehow made it through. Though it was only a year unlike the plan. Thank you KLGoode for checking this out :)

[Surya pradha]

really good poem about life and it's aspects. i can really relate to this piece. fantastic work!

[Sindu]

That's really great surya :) thank you so much

[Avinash]

Hey Sindu ..this one is a brilliant piece. It has the stamp of originality all over it. Yes we should converse to our past selves to understand the life in better manner. I really like the idea.

[Sindu]

Thanks Avinash :) yup a pretty good idea - MusicManiac's, it's a bit healing to see what we went through. Thanks again

[R Smith]

it is an amazing work! One to be proud of and a good way to update your past and see how you have progressed, seems you have done that very well :)

[Sindu]

Thanks a lot Richard! That was encouraging. But I'm still in the process of believing that I "updated" all that went by..

[Sanjh]

Wow Sindu, this is wonderful, keep it up...:)

[Sindu]

Thanks a lot sanjh :)